Perfect 10!

Kicking off the Spring steelhead guide season has been long anticipated with this extreme Winter. Early in the season, you never know what to expect. Water temperatures are generally still pretty cool, but early stonefly and hex activity have the fish on the feed. Guiding new clients also keeps you on your toes for the unexpected.

Today was unexpected indeed. Most of the tributaries across Ohio and Pennsylvania began to open up over the past week and the rain we received 2 days ago really got things moving. And luckily, we found some water that had dropped enough to take a swing at.

John and Matt were primed and ready to hit the water. Matt is on his final weekend home for Spring

Break, so we had to make this day work. And work it did.

We hit the creek early and within no time John had hooked into his 1st steelhead. With a little coaching we were able to get it in the net. John was hooked!

Matt hooked several fish and had short battles with them, but they gave him the slip. Finally, BANG...Matt hit a serous gamer that ran him up and down the creek and this one did hit the net. Matt was now hooked as well!

From there, the water was on fire. By the end of the day, these 2 coaxed 10 fish into the net. As we walked back to the truck I reminded Matt how special this day really was because he spent it with his dad. They will both look back fondly 20 years from now at these memories burned into film. There is not much better in life than being able to guide a father and son on the water for a day and just watch them enjoy each other.

Want to make some memories on the water with a family member? Call me. LET'S GO FISHIN'!

Think Spring SALE!

I can't take this cold any more!  We need to think Spring!  Book a Spring 2014 Guided Steelhead Trip between now and January 31, 2014 and save 20%.  That's $220/day for one fisherman or $300/day for 2 fisherman.  A little planning for some Spring CHROME should warm you right ups.  Shoot me an email at patrick@fomoutfitters or Call Me.  LET'S GO FISHIN'!

Fall Steelhead Season 2013 Wrap-Up

We had a great season on the water this Fall.  Many folks complained that the numbers were down, across Ohio and Pennsylvania, but were sure landed a lot of fish.  Great clients and great fishing equals great memories.

Don't forget the Winter steelhead season across Steelhead Alley is fantastic if you can handle the cold.  And, the Spring season is booking fast.  Call me!  LET'S GO FISHIN'!

Fly Swap

One of the great parts about being a fly fishing guide is meeting other guides.  It's really great when you run across another guide that does not chase what you chase.  And it's even better when you both want to fish for the other guy's quarry.  That is exactly the story for Dave and I.

Dave has started a guide service for brown trout on Ohio's Clear Fork River.  Clear Fork is one of the 3 Ohio streams that is stocked yearly with brown trout fingerlings.  ODNR has selected these 3 streams based on water temperature and habitat that should allow the trout fingerlings to holdover year to year and grow up big and strong.

Clear Fork river has upper and lower sections separated by Pleasant Hill Lake.  I am very familiar with the lower Clear Fork and have caught some nice browns down there over the years.  What I really wanted was someone to show me around the upper Clear Fork to see if slinging my streamers was just as effective up there.  Dave is the guy with the knowledge to help with that.

Dave is a fantastic fly fisherman, but has not had the time to get dialed-in to the steelhead game on the Lake Erie tribs.  Well, you see where this is headed.

We spent 2 days together fishing Clear Fork and then Rocky River in April.  It was fantastic learning some new tactics from Dave and being able to share some knowledge of steelhead waters to help him with his game.

If you have wanted to check out the brown trout fishery on Ohio's clear Fork River, Dave Radomski is your guy.  He has excellent knowledge of the river and the fish and his rates are really great.  Contact Dave with Mohican Fly Fishing Guide Services, LLC for a great experience on the Clear Fork.

This is a 2nd year holdover Clear Fork brown.  You can see a year of naturalizing to the stream diet has allowed for the red dots on the adipose fin and the blue-gray dot behind the eye to start to develop.

In the 1st hour of the morning the trout were really active.  We both caught about 5 brownies each ranging from 10-15".

Dave showing off his landing skills.

We didn't catch any monsters on this day, but the trout were beautiful.

This pretty little hen hammered a wet fly on the swing.

Dave let's one go so it can head back to the lake and return next season even bigger!